Lake Tahoe

A snowHead

Having spent a little time considering our upcoming winter California trip (though dates are still not finalised) I think we may need to book some lodgings in the mountains to facilitate a few days skiing in the Lake Tahoe area. Any tips as to where abouts to stay, or as to where to go look for bookings, etc would be much appreciated.

A snowHead

And I thought this thread was going to be about the bear family having a refreshing dip in the lake watched by onlookers at Lake Tahoe Beach..... Laughing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36983821

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

First, get a lift pass (season pass). http://www.snow.com/planavacation/season-pass-explorer.aspx#/Adult of Vail, for example Tahoe Local Pass for heavenly, kirkwood, northstar. The window ticket price of day pass around US$120+.

http://www.tahoesbest.com/images/map-ski-resorts-sugar.jpg

South Lake Tahoe, the biggest town, is the base of Heavenly, you could drive a car to Kirkwood, or Northstar (at North Lake Tahoe). More choices for food and lodgings, for example, stay at a casino hotel on the Nevada side.

West, Homewood, really small one, but really beauty with the blue lake.

For apartment, vrbo.com is the best tool.

Sqyaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Suger Bowl, Diamond Peak, Mt.Rose, not familiar with.

But, for good snow condition, # 1 are Heavenly & Squaw Valley, sometimes Kirkwood is the best one.

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In order of Gnar

Squaw
Kweed
Alpine
Killebrew at Heavenly

Not to be missed if snow is good on a mellow midweek day - Homewood

Most reliable at staying open in big storms - Northstar
Nicest mellow treeskiing- Northstar
Best bumps - West Face at Squaw + Face/Gunbarrel at Heavenly
Most Bro-brah attitude - Squaw
Most telehippies- Alpine
Least Vail like Vail resort - Kirkwood
Nicest drive to the mountain - Kirkwood
Best Ice bar - Sherwood at Alpine
Most tedious ski commuting - Heavenly
Most spectacular views - Heavenly
Gnarliest line - McConkey's/Eagles Nest - basically a cliff
Best open boundary - Alpine
Best skiing down to desert - Heavenly
Most likely to see someone ski famous - Squaw/Truckee
Best Elvis Day - Mt Rose

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We stayed in Tahoe City (which feels more like a small town), for skiing in Squaw and Alpine Meadows. We went in 2015-their worst season for 20 years, so dreadful conditions unfortunately. Staying in a real town rather than in a condo in Squaw was much the best option. The drive to the slopes was only 10 mins. There seemed to be some good places to rent through Airbnb, but in the end as there were 5 of us, all middle aged old farts who wanted 3 bedrooms all with private bathrooms, we rented a house through Tahoe Luxury Properties. They were excellent. Lovely cabin in the woods just up from the lake. Out of Squaw and Alpine, we marginally preferred the skiing in Alpine, which was dead quiet. Bear in mind that if there is no "off piste" skiing available, the ski areas feel tiny. We were skiing mush in late January...

One day, in a bid to find some different skiing, we drove down to Heavenly and South Lake Tahoe. We didn't ski there in the end, the conditions were too dire and the lift tickets were still full price. SLT is a much bigger sprawl, and I was glad that we were not based there.

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I'm lucky enough to have friends with a log cabin near Sugar Bowl, but if I needed accommodation, I'd rather stay in a small town (Truckee or Tahoe City) and ski in multiple resorts.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Ok, thank you all very much. A lot of very useful information there! I really appreciate you all taking the time to post it.

For a long weekend (which it now seems likely to be) I don`t think my guys will mind the absence of many challenging runs or of off piste skiing, and I am delighted by it lol

We`ve often enjoyed skiing different small resorts in the Alps each day, on years when we have not been based somewhere with a huge ski area, so I`m quite liking that idea!

After all it is free

@Alastair Pink, I guess the bears would be in hibernation at the time we are likely to be there. Smile

I stayed in at the Hurrahs Casino a few years ago, twas cheap.
But luckily an old ski buddy got in touch and took us around a few better places than Heavenly,
I'm pretty sure it was "Sierra at Tahoe".
From memory there was very interesting tree skiing, and pretty empty.

Then he owned up to having a condo all winter at Truckee and invited us up for the day.
So we got shown around Northstar which was good too.

Truckee is an interesting little town with a very dark history from the wagon train days.

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@abc, Noted, thank you. Thinking we may be there Nov or Jan at the moment.

You know it makes sense.

@CaravanSkier, Nov is highly problematic with regard to snow.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Well spotted @Dave of the Marmottes Its hard to imagine these days how hungry and skinny Americans were in those times with no Golden Arches or Colonel Sanders to help them survive ...
Just the slowest moving Donner.

They have changed a bit!
I got hooked on the local beer while I was there "Sierra Nevada" ... and now its in Tesco's!
I even found in on draught in the Cambridge Blue down Gwyder St.. but at £6 a pint !!!
You always fancy a Donner after a few of those on a Friday night, and you always feel guilty the following morning.

A snowHead

@CaravanSkier, Lake Tahoe is first and foremost a summer holiday destination, which can house a substantially larger summer crowd than even Christmas skier demand.

Finding lodging is probably the least of your problem. Find the best price, location and amenity combination is up to you. But outside of peak weekends in prime season, there's really no need to book far in advance unless you have your heart set on a particularly nitch-y "feature".

On the mountain is a different story. On weekends, lift line can be long and slopes crowded. Probably no worse than peak time in the Alps. But if you have the luxury of choosing when to visit, I'd strongly advice avoiding holiday weekends. (there's only one in Jan -- MLK day in mid-Jan)

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@abc, Again thank you. We would be more towards the end of Jan I think.

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I've stayed here but during the summer months, Aston Lakeland Village Resort. Accomodation was fantastic and really cheap too. Easy access to heavenly. Would 100% recommend

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I`m still in the planning process! Where does Bear Mountain fit into the Californian ski experience? Does anyone know? It seems there is a train between Santa Cruz and Bear Mountain so that might avoid us taking two cars to a ski resort!

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Caravan...........

Consistently "Tahoe" gets its snow from late January on to April in an average year. It is rare that Christmas on to January is renowned for snow in the Sierras unless it is a banner year which can happen. It all comes down to whether a high parks itself off the California coast (thus blocking storms) or not. You want "not". All the more you want storms tracking off the Aleutians. And given the terrain in the Sierras you want no less than 100 cm of base as the Sierras have lots of big rocks underneath, such is not the case with the interior West.............
Inasmuch as the past six years in the Sierras have not been the best, one never knows what a new winter will bring in terms of snow. Stay abreast of weather............

One website that might be of assistance is the visitrenotahoe.com website. They ARE there to help.

No best recommendation for you as the greater Tahoe region has much to offer. Do your homework and figure out what you might like as per your preference. There tends to always be availability, but you will need a car and when hiring (SFO?), request one with snow tires if possible as snow in the Sierras can be, in a word, "intense". V. moisture laden and it is not uncommon for a "dump" to precipitate a good 80 cm. to 120+ cm in 24 or less hours if all the stars are aligned. I've seen "worse" numerous times. So bad that everything is fully shut down, beginning with all roads. BTW........., watch your speed. The CHP (California Highway Patrol) are good at their job and are everywhere.............. If you are launching out of SFO leave about 10:00 a.m. after the morning commute has settled down and just take a nice, easy drive up Hwy 80 or Hwys 80-50 to Tahoe depending upon whether you are going to be north or south Tahoe. Watch yourselves on any descent!

Bear Mountain is in Southern Cal - Lax/San Bernardino, not up north. No train to Bear Mountain, just road. There are only several train lines (AMTRAK) in California or through the state but with the exception of the Zephyr which goes past TRUCKEE, be it from the East or West, none come near any skiing. And their on time factor is the opposite of Switzerland. Even Mongolia.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Dont want to put you off but Lake Tahoe has had some horrendous drought seasons recently

http://snowbrains.com/tahoe-broken-3/

After all it is free

@arcsinice, Thank you. We will be based in South California for much of our visit and hopefully son no. 1 will have got his act together by Jan and bought a suitable 4x4 to head to hopefully snowy places. Smile

As this will be his first ski season as a US resident though he is not yet fully equipped with either all the kit or the necessary local knowledge. He did not know of the train from Santa Cruz but this link appears to show one http://www.roaringcamp.com/trainroutemaps,

@stanton, Yes, I had heard Sad

But I`m ever the optimist, after all I have just booked Xmas in the Alps rolling eyes

@CaravanSkier, In the 90's i hsd some truly epic POW days in Tahoe. Monster storms lasting days !!!

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@abc, So I`m told, but also the water is rather cold!

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I've been there many times (lived in California for a few years). So I can tell you the surfing is good. Very Happy

Yes, the water is on the chilly side. Wet suit is pretty much mandatory. But as they say, there's no too cold water, there's only inappropriate clothing. Toofy Grin

It's definitely worth the hassle.

Personally, I think there's so much to enjoy on the coast, it's really not worth wasting the time to struggle up to Tahoe for skiing just for a couple of days! But then, I'm not a ski-aholic. I skied Tahoe often when I lived there. That's because I LIVE there and have all the time to do both water sport AND skiing.

@abc, Given the choice of melted water or frozen water I`ll choose the melted stuff every time Laughing

'Though I love a quick dip in melted glacier water I generally prefer it a little warmer if I`m in it for any length of time. Then again I have very limited experience of wet suits! Since we live by the coast in the UK I have been known to swim with the beach covered in snow, but advancing years has made that less attractive than it once was!

However, my other half feels the complete opposite way to me about water, so whilst we are visiting our son it seems only fair to experience the frozen stuff for a few days, and to be honest I really want to see the scenery!

You know it makes sense.

In that case, you've got a list of mountains with character description. Keep those handy as the time gets close. Make a final decision when you head up.

Once you bed down at either end of the lake, you can choose which mountain to go to last minutes (or purchase lift pass once you know the snow situation)

Help!!

Lake Tahoe

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